12 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American philosopher who developed the higher-order thought (HOT) theory of consciousness — a mental state is conscious if and only if the subject has a higher-order thought about it.
The University of Virginia's academic unit for research into phenomena suggesting survival of consciousness after death — including children's past-life memories, near-death experiences, and cases of the reincarnation type.
American neuroscientist and parapsychologist at the University of Virginia's Division of Perceptual Studies — lead author of Irreducible Mind — who argues from neuroscientific and parapsychological evidence that consciousness cannot be reduced to brain function.
The phenomenon, most commonly induced by psychedelics or deep meditation, in which the felt sense of a separate self temporarily collapses — studied both as a mystical experience and as a potential mechanism of therapeutic benefit.
The Big Sur residential center founded by Michael Murphy and Dick Price in 1962 — the institutional home of the Human Potential Movement and a crucible for the encounter between Western psychology, Eastern spirituality, and consciousness research.
Jean Houston and Robert Masters's research foundation exploring altered states of consciousness, imagery, and human potential — a key institution in the Human Potential Movement.
Edward Kelly et al.'s 2007 800-page scholarly work arguing that the standard neuroscientific model of mind (consciousness as produced by the brain) is falsified by the evidence — including near-death experiences, psychical research, and exceptional human experiences — and that William James's 'transmission model' is better supported.
French-American computer scientist, venture capitalist, and UAP researcher who pioneered the 'interdimensional hypothesis' — that UAPs are not alien spacecraft but manifestations of an unknown phenomenon that interacts with human consciousness and has done so throughout history.
Mack's second abduction book — focusing on the transformative effects of abduction experiences on the people who have them, and on the implications for consciousness and human identity.
Indian philosopher who has worked on the relationship between Advaita Vedanta and consciousness studies, developing cross-cultural approaches to the hard problem of consciousness.
University of Virginia in Charlottesville — founded by Thomas Jefferson — which houses the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), the world's most productive center for scientific research on reincarnation, near-death experiences, and anomalous consciousness, founded by Ian Stevenson.
Donald Hoffman is a professor of cognitive science at UC Irvine whose Interface Theory of Perception argues that our perceptual experiences do not represent objective reality but rather an evolutionarily useful interface — like a desktop GUI — that conceals the true nature of the world. He extends this to a radical claim that spacetime itself is not fundamental, and that consciousness may be.